


Learn Me Right

by bravest_person_in_Wonderland



Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, Gen, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, I love Katherine Plumber Pulitzer so much you guys, I've seen a lot of fics similar to the concept of this, Introspection, Light Angst, Male-Female Friendship, Platonic Male/Male Relationships, Protective Albert DaSilva, Whump, but this is different enough not to be plagiarism or anything, guys i wrote a multichaptered fanfic and actually finished it?, just a popular fic trope, who even am i anymore, yay for platonic affection y'all
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-21
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:48:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 7,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28214220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bravest_person_in_Wonderland/pseuds/bravest_person_in_Wonderland
Summary: Les walked up to the lodging house alone one morning, carrying a small bag and looking nervous.~in which Davey gets sick, Jack is worried, and the Manhattan newsies all basically babysit Les.
Relationships: Albert DaSilva & Les Jacobs, Crutchie & Jack Kelly, David Jacobs & Jack Kelly, Jack Kelly & Jacobs Family, Jack Kelly/Katherine Plumber Pulitzer, Les Jacobs & Jack Kelly, Romeo & Smalls (Newsies), The Newsies & Katherine Plumber Pulitzer
Comments: 41
Kudos: 27





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm once again posting when I should be sleeping oops.
> 
> I honestly have no idea what kind of quality this writing even is, I discovered early on that Jack's POV is way harder to write than I expected. I think I manage to pull it off pretty well, though.
> 
> I feel a little bit bad for this, but I did not really do any historical research for this? So... apologies for any inaccuracies.
> 
> As always, thoughts and feedback are welcomed and appreciated!! :)

Les walked up to the lodging house alone one morning, carrying a small bag and looking nervous. Smalls raised an eyebrow at him from her perch on the upstairs window ledge, where she was taking a few pulls from Race's cigar. It was weird to see the kid without his brother, standing alone in the few inches of snow. "Where the heck's Mouth?" She hollered down, frowning at the way the kid seemed to shrink at the question.

After a second, he raised his chin and yelled back, "Not here, duh!"

Smalls snorted. Something was obviously up, but she wasn't the one to dig into it. "Come on up, kid, Jack'll be in here cocka-doodle-doo-in' soon anyway." She saw Les nod, then hesitate before he walked in.

Most of the boys had heard the shouting and started to rouse.

"Someone tryin' ta take my place?" Jack came down from the roof, shooting a teasing smirk at Smalls and clapping Crutchie on the shoulder just as Les entered the bunkroom.

"Hey- Les?" Jack did a double-take and stared at the kid. Smalls put out the cigar and handed it back to Race before he could even open his mouth to yell at her about it.

"Where's Dave?" Jack asked as the rest of the newsies muttered along in question. Again, Les seemed to shrink into himself.

Smalls wasn't big -- thus the nickname -- and the kid was only a few years younger than her, but he looked absolutely tiny. It made her a bit nervous, 'cause he was usually larger than life. His attitude made up for whatever he lacked in age and stature. Something was _definitely off._

* * *

_**Death Toll Hits 200 In New York's Influenza Season** _

The headline from a few days prior -- the last day they'd seen Davey and Les, actually -- flashed into Jack's mind when he saw Les standing in the lodging house. Les, without Davey. That _never_ happened. Why would Les be here alone unless-

Jack cut off that train of thought before it could get too far and knelt to re-tie Crutchie's shoe, the way Crutchie rested a hand on his shoulder out of habit strangely comforting. Les stood awkwardly nearby, weirdly silent for a half a minute before he decided that Jack had let the question drop and he let himself get swept into the newsies' morning routine.

"What's that?" The kid asked Albert, pointing at the older boy's hand.

"Issa ring, Shortstop," Al smirked, smacking Les playfully with his cap before shoving it onto his head, backwards as usual.

"Where'd you get it?"

"My old man," Albert replied with a shrug. "Passed it down to me from his dad."

"Cool," Les said, then his attention shifted. "Hey Crutchie, I found a nice long piece of twine! I thought we could tie the ends together and do cat's-cradle later!"

Crutchie flashed his sunshine grin as he stood up and ruffled Les' hair. "I'd love ta," he replied.

A few minutes more of dressing and heckling and a couple faux-punches being thrown passed. After the first tense moments, Les had regained his usual cheery persona and it almost made Jack relax some. There was sure to be a good explanation for why Davey was missing.

As they all filtered out to the distribution center of the World, Les fell back with Smalls, Finch, and Elmer, playfully arguing about something or another. Jack kept an eye on him and thought he seemed a little subdued, somehow. Like his smile and his bubbly demeanor was sort of forced. Maybe it was the cold -- selling in the snow was always an adjustment.

The thing was, Jack wasn't good with figuring stuff like this out. Not subtle emotions and all that. That was Davey's thing, usually. Crutchie was one thing -- his feelings were always plastered all over his face, like a headline -- but most of the rest, Les included, were much harder to read most of the time.

Jack shrugged it off for the moment, throwing the typical meaningless taunts the Delanceys' ways as they opened the gate.

"Sixty papes," he said, dropping his coins into Wiesel's moneybox.

Morris handed over the papers with a venomous glare.

"Aw, come on, Morris. Don't let us guys get to yas, we's just havin' some fun," Jack stuck his tongue out as Morris' lip twisted into a sneer. "You should try it, havin' fun, I mean."

"I'll take twenty, please." Les' higher-pitched voice said, handing over a coin. "Thank you mister Weas- Wiesel, sir." The little boy took the papers handed to him and walked over to Jack. "I can still sell with you, right, Jack?"

"Course, kid," Jack replied. "Not even a question."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title is from the song by Birdy and Mumford and Sons (I'm too tired to add the hyperlink but it's from the Brave soundtrack and felt vaguely relevant when I was trying to come up with a title. Have I mentioned that titles are hard?)
> 
> Also, to clarify: the ring Albert mentions is a Claddagh, which is a really cool Irish thing and when I found out that people headcanon him as Irish I couldn't resist slipping that reference in (I have Irish ancestry and wear a Claddagh ring myself, I'm a bit of a nerd XP)
> 
> I feel like I should mention this: my laptop has been on the fritz lately, which means that this entire fic was written in the notes app on my phone. As such, it's probably way shorter than I anticipated because the mobile layout makes it look like I've got way more than I actually do. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> I have this whole fic fully written already, because I know myself well enough to know that I won't finish something if I start posting it while still in the writing process. ~~I do still want to space out the posting though, so I'll be doing Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays, barring unforseen circumstances.~~ _Edit: I'm impatient, so I'll be posting daily/every other day, depending on my mood and how busy I am this coming week or so. :D_


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was gonna wait a few more hours so I could say I waited 24 hours between chapters, but RIP me I'm impatient, so I bring you this offering now. 
> 
> Fun fact: I did not originally intend for Smalls to become a POV character, but the opening image of her sitting in the window with Race's cigar as Les walks up just took root in my mind, and I ended up with the split-POV between her and Jack. *shrugs* 
> 
> Fun fact 2.0: the "chocolate fight" in this chapter was one of my favorite scenes I wrote for this, I love my chaotic children.

A few more hours of semi-normalcy were all Jack got. It was weird not having Davey around to sell with, and eventually Jack's need to know got the better of him.

"Where _is_ Davey?"

Les had just sold his second-to-last pape and wandered back over to Jack's side. Jack had ordered him to stay within shouting range, feeling a bit like an impromptu babysitter. The kid glanced up at Jack and he thought he saw a flash of uncertainty in his eyes.

"He, uh..." Les adjusted his hat. "He's sick."

It wasn't that Jack was surprised, really. Since the concern had first come into his mind that morning, he'd let himself mull it over a bit more. He had thought, up until the moment his fear was confirmed, that he was resigned to it. But those two words from Les, and the look on the kid's face, sent a red-hot spike of worry through his diaphragm, contrasting sharply with the chilly air.

"I think Dad and Sarah might be, too," Les continued, and Jack noticed that he edged closer as he spoke. "Mama doesn't want me to get sick, so she sent me with some money so I can stay at the lodging house for now- if that's ok?"

"Yeah, course that's ok, kid. Don't want you comin' down with the flu, too, do we? Our best seller?" Jack replied on instinct, giving half a grin, his mind slightly more occupied than it had been two minutes before. Les seemed reassured by the gesture and trotted off to sell his last pape.

* * *

"Just gimme a piece. A single piece. And this can all be over, quick as ya like." Smalls' fingers hovered inches from Jojo's ribs and he twitched while holding the remains of a chocolate bar -- a rare treat -- far out of her reach.

"Race-" he wheezed, trying to push Smalls away as she continued her merciless tickling. Before she had time to react, the chocolate was in the air, then triumphantly held by Race.

Smalls left Jojo to catch his breath and lunged for Race, exchanging a look with Crutchie, who winked back at her. Race's eyes widened and he cackled as he dodged out of the way, but he tripped over a certain well-placed crutch and the chocolate bar went flying again, then slid across the floor and was picked up by yet another hand.

"Where'd youse find this?" Jack asked, quirking an eyebrow and scanning the room. Les stood a half-step behind him, watching the pandemonium come to a delayed halt at their arrival.

Jojo was sitting where Smalls had cornered him, still recovering from her tickle attack. Race and Finch, who had been trying to take the bar next, were splayed out across the floor and each other, foiled by Crutchie's sneak attack. Crutchie himself was seated on his bed, Albert sitting next to him rolling his eyes. Elmer snickered near the doorway and Specs simply watched the chaos with mild amusement.

"Elmer stole it," Finch managed to groan. "Racer, get off-"

Jack looked disapprovingly at Elmer, who wore a distinct look of pride, but everyone knew he wasn't actually mad. There was silence for a second before a sing-song whisper could be heard:

"Sharin' is carin'," Romeo muttered from a top bunk, then froze, apparently having realized that he hadn't said it as quietly as planned, and the room broke into uncontrolled laughter.


	3. Chapter 3

Jack slipped down the fire escape, almost as quiet as a mouse. It was dark and cold as he walked through the streets, and the few people he saw looked at him suspiciously as he passed. 

Nighttime, in Jack's opinion, was underrated. It was the quietest time of the day, there were no expectations, no need to do anything but soak in the calm darkness. He knew a few of the boys got nervous in the dark, even if they'd never admit it, but he loved it. There was something calming about the inkiness of the night, the way the world's hard edges were dulled. Not to mention the stars shining down. It wasn't clean or green or objectively pretty, it sure wasn't Santa Fe, but this was just fine, Jack thought. 

On the other side of the coin, the quiet darkness leaves room for loud thoughts. Loudest at the moment was Jack's concern for Davey and his family. He tried telling himself that he shouldn't worry so much, people got sick, even with the flu, all the time and nothing- _really bad_ happened to them. 

Yeah, but telling himself that didn't do anything for the tense feeling just below his ribs. 

Jack arrived at his destination and glanced around the huge house before sneaking around the back, not even bothered by the lack of light from the moon. He was used to sneaking around places, making sure not to trip on stuff. He picked up a few pebbles that were visible through the layer of snow and tossed two of them, one after the other, at a second-story window. 

A pause, then the window opened and a familiar head poked out. On instinct, at the slight sound of the window's opening, Jack placed a finger to his lips. Katherine nodded and held up one finger, then disappeared back inside the house. Jack counted slowly in his head: _One. Two. Three. Four-_ By the time he reached thirty, a French window on the first floor had clicked open and Kath climbed out. 

Jack couldn't help the smile that slid across his face. Even in a nightgown, wrapped in a thick cardigan with her hair all set in curlers, she was gorgeous. 

"Evenin', Sweetheart," he muttered, following like a puppy when Katherine took him by the hand and led him to a corner ever darker than the rest of the night. 

"I doubt anyone will see us here," she explained. They had only met here at the Pulitzer mansion one other time, directly after the strike, and that had been in daylight. "To what do I owe the pleasure of a visit at this _very respectable_ time of night?" 

Jack stifled a laugh at her crossed arms and quirked eyebrow. "I didn't wanna wait until the weekend to see ya," he shrugged, trying, as always, to appear less needy than he actually was. Gosh, it felt nice to be loved. Yeah, there was love between him and the boys, but it was different. 

Katherine's love was... it was the world. 

And geez, when did he start getting so soft? 

"Okay, we both know there has to be more to it than that," she took a step closer. "Is everything alright?" 

"Yeah, yeah," Jack brushed her off, then tilted his hand back and forth. "I mean, for the most part. Les is staying at the lodging house," he said, leaving the opening he knew Kath was looking for. 

"Les? What's he doing there?" Her reporter senses were tingling now, Jack knew. He sighed. 

"The Jacobses -- well, Davey, Sarah, and their dad, at least -- are sick. The flu. Mrs. Jacobs sent Les over here for me to look after, so's he doesn't catch it." He shrugged again, as if trying to reassure himself or Katherine that it was no big deal. 

Kath frowned, then shivered. Jack saw it and closed the distance between them to wrap his arms around her. She relaxed into him, trying to soak up all his warmth, and was quiet. Until, of course, being Katherine Pulitzer (pen name Plumber), she wasn't. 

"You're worried." 

"What, should I not be?" He didn’t mean for it to sound as exasperated as it came out, but Kath pressed onwards. 

"That's not what I'm saying and you know it," she replied, shifting so she could look up at him without craning her neck. "You're fretting over something that's outside your control." 

Jack let out a soft half-groan. He hated things being outside of his control. "That whole family means a lot to me," he muttered. 

"And Davey most of all, I know." Kath patted his chest sympathetically. "But there's nothing you can do for him except to look after Les." 

"You know, I've never seen that kid look more nervous than when he told me about Dave bein' sick? What if-" 

Katherine cut him off. "What if it's worse than you know, what if you can't be whatever Les needs from you, what if, what if, what if." She stared at him until he was forced to look down and meet her eyes. "The thing about 'what-ifs' is that they are, by definition, untrue. And until they become realities, which in my experience doesn't actually happen as often as we fear it might, what's the use of tearing ourselves up with worry?" 

She was right, as usual. Jack pressed a kiss to her forehead. 

"Sorry for wakin' ya," he said as she yawned, suddenly realizing how late it was. 

"Oh, I wasn't actually asleep," she shrugged, her head on his shoulder. She giggled softly. "I was trying to decide on what the opening lines of my next piece should be."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was actually not a huge Katherine fan until I started writing this fic and got to this chapter. Not in a "I don't really like this character" kind of way, in a "this is a cool character but they don't resonate with me the same way other ones do" way. And then I listened to Watch What Happens again, realized that Kath is literally me 90% of the time, and wrote this chapter and it was like... wow I love her. And her and Jack's relationship is just so much fun wow, I didn't realize it until I tried writing them but they're actually really cute and I love writing their interplay. 
> 
> But if you can't tell, I definitely relate to Jack in a lot of ways. I am SUCH a night owl and I adore darkness and just yes. 
> 
> Credit for most of Kath's wonderful wisdom had to go to my mom, who has told me in as many words that whole thing about worrying about potential outcomes. I'm gonna tell my mom I quoted her in a fanfic and see how she responds XD Sometimes us anxiety potato sacks just need someone to hand us some good old logic.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this chapter is super short, so... sorry for that. 
> 
> I may have mentioned this, but I never intended for Smalls to be so prominent in this fic, but once I wrote one scene with her, she kinda took over and started writing herself, oops.

The only sounds in the lodging house were the creaking of beds as boys shifted position, their soft breathing, and Finch's quiet snoring. The bed next to Smalls' gave a sharp cracking noise, not abnormal, but enough to catch her attention. She rolled over on her stomach, propping herself up on her elbows.

"Hey," she hissed. "Les."

Clearly, the kid wasn't sleeping. Smalls was close enough to tell by his movements and breathing -- he kept yawning, like he was tired but couldn't actually fall asleep. He met her eyes with a sheepish smile.

"Sorry," he whispered back, but Smalls shrugged.

"I can't sleep either. Ya okay?" Smalls was not known as the caring one among the newsies. That title usually went to Crutchie, or sometimes Jojo.

Or Davey, but right now Davey was the problem. Oh that, that thought running through her mind nearly made her laugh out loud, just because of the irony. Davey Jacobs had never been a problem (except probably to Pulitzer during the strike), he was the most mild-mannered and mature of all of them. Who knew why that struck her as funny. Maybe she was just tired.

"I guess," Les said. "I've never really been away from my parents overnight before."

Jeez, this kid probably didn't even realize how lucky he was. Smalls may not have been known for her (nonexistent) nurturing ways, but she was smart enough to know when she needed to make an effort.

"Are ya worried about 'em?" Smalls asked. God only knew why she was the one having this conversation instead of Jack, or even Racer. But hey, sometimes she wished someone would ask her if she was ok, so why not offer that little comfort to the kid?

Through the darkness she could see Les nod. "I've never seen Davey so sick he couldn't even get out of bed." Even whispering, his voice managed to crack.

Oh gosh. Smalls rubbed a hand across her face, giving herself an excuse to look away from the kid and his big, expressive eyes. Because what those eyes were expressing right now was not comforting in the least.

In the months since the strike, Davey had made a point to get to know all the Manhattan newsies. He was a total mother hen, which earned him a lot of teasing, but the truth was, they all appreciated it. They'd all come to count on him in a lot of ways.

And newsies was family.

Smalls looked back up at Les, who was watching her in the darkness, the reflection of dim moonlight in his eyes the only way she could even see him. She knew he probably couldn't really see her, either, but she smirked, reaching across the gap between the beds to ruffle his hair.

"Your brother's tough," she said. "Tougher than prolly even he knows. Ain't no influenza gonna beat 'im." She stiffened at a noise from outside. "Pretend to be sleepin'," she hissed, and plopped back down on the thin mattress.

Jack was back. The sound of his footsteps on the fire escape got louder as he climbed, then Smalls could hear him climb in the window. She guessed that tonight was cold enough that he didn't want to stay in his "penthouse" up top. Crutchie had been sleeping inside for over a week now, anyway. After a couple minutes, Smalls opened her eyes again. No way they were gonna keep talking now Jack was here, who knew how long it'd take him to actually fall asleep.

And anyway, Les seemed to be drowsy now, blinking across at her -- she thought he gave her a little smile (gosh, this kid was adorable, no wonder he was such a good seller) -- before rolling over to his other side.

Understandably, Smalls fell asleep with a lot of thoughts on her mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you can probably tell, I have no patience about spacing out updates lol. I spent like a month on this fic and I just wanna share it with all of you guys. 
> 
> I'm not doing anything for Christmas so if I'm bored tomorrow I may update again. XD 
> 
> Comments and kudos bring me so much joy, you guys. It really makes my day to see what y'all are enjoying about my fics. :) Anyway, merry Christmas!!!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one's kinda filler, but don't we all need a bit of fluff sometimes??

"We gonna sell near Medda's theater today?" Les asked, tailing Jack as they left the distribution center the next morning. "I haven't seen her in forever!"

Jack nodded. "And ain't that _Miss_ Medda, to you?" He grinned, the Les' enthusiasm rubbing off on him. It'd been good to talk to Kath, had taken a weight off him that he hadn't even realized was there until it was gone. The simmering anxiety he had felt the previous afternoon waned slightly in the morning sunlight. The proverbial elephant was still in the room, but Les was in good spirits and so was Jack.

Les scowled, carrying his bundle of papes under one arm and planting the other hand on his hip. "You're not my mom," he retorted with a snarky smile that Jack could have sworn the kid had stolen straight from him. "Don't be so uptight, that's Davey's job!"

Les' cocky play-grin faltered when he mentioned his brother's name, but he didn't break eye contact with Jack. Jack snorted, not wanting to let on that he'd seen the slip. He'd spend long enough looking after his kids to know when to leave things be. If he was honest, that was most of the time.

"Remind me not to let you hang out with Albo anymore," Jack laughed. "You're pickin' up his sass."

"Albert's fun, though," Les said, sidestepping to avoid getting trampled by an angry-looking man in a suit and tie. "He tells good stories."

"Yeah, but I don't wanna be sendin' ya back to your parents all mouthy." Jack reached over and pulled Les' hat off his head, holding it high out of the kid's reach as they approached the theater.

Les jumped to try and grab it back, but Jack was too tall. He laughed at Les' pouty face and handed the hat back.

"A'right," he said, "Now get sellin' -- and remember, stay wheres ya can hear me, yeah?"

The kid flashed another wide grin before bounding off a little ways down the street.

* * *

Smalls was selling with Romeo and Albert today. Finch had gone with Race on a bet to see who could sell the most papes on the same streetcorner in an hour. Smalls' money was on Race -- metaphorically speaking, since she didn't actually have much of any extra money to be making bets with.

Selling with Romeo was always a comedy act. He flirted with every lady or girl to walk by, and Smalls figured she should be grateful that she was among the extremely small number of females that he didn't try it with, but she ended up having to play damage control for the women who didn't appreciate a little whippersnapper making eyes at them. That tended to get her some extra sales, and at some point Romeo would give up flirting and start hawking the normal way.

They moved a couple streetcorners away to give Albert some space, Smalls checking over headlines again as she walked, trying to find some fun stuff to blow out of proportion.  
None of them were particularly interesting, just the same old stuff as usual. A minor fire on one side of town, a scandal involving some politician, the influenza...

Smalls had made a fair few sales when Albert gave a loud whistle to announce that it was time for a break a few hours later. Romeo, however, was still holding most of his bundle of papes. Yeah, they could sell 'em back to Weasel now, but it was still better if they could sell 'em to the people. And Romeo usually sold pretty fast once he quit fooling around. Maybe it was just a bad day for him.

"Smalls, wanna split off and head up closer to Jacobi's?" Al glanced at her, mid a quick game of thumb war with Romeo, and she nodded. "Romeo, you stick with me."

Smalls gave a play-salute with two fingers. Albert may think he came off as tough, but she'd seen him grab a significant portion of Romeo's stack with a hushed mutter of _"We'll split fifty-fifty."_ Albert DaSilva, Irish temper aside, was a big ol' softie -- particularly where it came to Romeo. Smalls stifled a smile as she trotted away around the block.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really did intend to update yesterday, but then an issue came up with my cell service provider and since I don't currently have wifi, I had to wait for that to get remedied before I could get on here. 
> 
> See you guys next time!! If you're reading this, please know I appreciate you a lot. I love being able to share my writings and ramblings with other people. :)


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello and welcome to "Lu is bored and spamming AO3," have fun with my 2am ramblings on the inner workings of Jack Kelly and Smalls (does she/they have a canon or fanon last name? if anyone knows please tell me).

Several more days passed uneventfully, and Jack noticed that the others had started keeping more of an eye on Les. In the past, they'd generally left the kid in Davey's care and if not Davey, Jack's. But over the few days he had been staying with them, they'd started treating him the same way they did the rest of the younger newsies.

Jack had woken up that morning to find Les curled up in bed with Crutchie, and couldn't help but smile and tuck the image away in his mind to draw later. He'd woken up earlier than normal, with the sky outside still dark. The only other person awake was Smalls, sitting on the windowsill with her short, choppy hair for once not hidden by her hat. She seemed deep in thought, an attitude Jack was able to recognize simple because he had spent so much time in it.

"G'mornin'," he whispered, walking up and ruffling her hair.

She glanced up and rolled her eyes at him. "Hi."

"Any particular reason you're up already?"

"Eh," she shrugged, then turned her head to look at him again. "Hey, d'you got any news on Mouth?"

Shoot. Jack had been trying not to think about Davey or his family, at least not until he could talk with Kath again that afternoon at Jacobi's. The jolt he felt under his ribs made him suck in a breath as he shook his head.

"Nah. Nah, but I was thinkin' of goin' and tryna check up on 'em, you know, see how they's doing. Maybe this afternoon, or tomorrow."

He didn't like the uncertainty, that was what bothered him. He knew there was a good chance he was worrying too much, that Davey and his family were, or would be, just fine... but there was another part of him that was for some reason utterly terrified of losing Dave. When the Jacobs boys had first shown up, he could never have realized how much he would end up caring for them, but now it was like he was missing a piece of himself without Davey around.

"The kid's pretty worried," Smalls said, bringing Jack's attention back to the room. "He said before he left, Dave was so sick he couldn't even get outta bed."

Jack did his best to hide the flash of anxiety that ran though him, but it must have shown on his face in some way, because Smalls turned away from him and continued, in a slightly more upbeat tone:

"I mean, most'a us have gotten the flu before. 'Member last year when Racer came down wit' it and kept talkin' in his sleep?"

Jack managed a laugh. Race was definitely interesting to be around when he was under the weather. And as if Smalls had awakened a slumbering creature, he rolled over in bed and sat up.

"Somebody call me?" He mumbled, and Jack really did smile this time.

"Nah, we was talkin' about ya, not to ya," he replied, before clearing his throat and hollering, "Up'n at 'em, gang, time to get movin'!"

* * *

Smalls had been looking for a chance to talk with Jack about her conversation with Les. 'Course, she didn't mention _when_ the conversation had been held, but that was beside the point. Smalls wasn't the closest with Mouth, yeah, but the thought of something actually happening to him bothered her. It obviously bothered Jack, too, which wasn't surprising.

Jack Kelly was an enigma that Smalls had never cared to try and work out. Heck, she didn't try and figure most people out. Their inner workings were largely irrelevant to her, unless of course it was someone who was a threat to her. She respected Jack, loved him like a brother, and that was that. No more thought or discussion needed.

The strike had changed all of them in one way or another, but none more than Jack. It was due in equal parts to Davey Jacobs and Katherine Plumber Pulitzer, among many other things. Jack may have fallen in love with Kath, but before even that, according to resident "feelings expert" Mush, he had already fallen for Davey in a much different way.

It wasn't hard to see what drew the two boys together, even for as passive as Smalls tended to be. They were weirdly similar while still being almost total opposites. Jack was loud and brash and combative, Davey was much quieter, cautious and more diplomatic. And yet they were both born leaders. In a way, they completed each other.

Smalls had once had the opportunity to put together part of a large puzzle. It had been at Jacobi's, probably two years ago now. Mr. Jacobi had been doing one on one of the back tables when she had come in for a glass of water. She'd been alone that day, and the deli wasn't very busy either.

Mr. Jacobi had handed her a glass of water and made a bit of the usual small talk before Smalls noticed the puzzle pieces scattered across the table and asked about it. Jacobi pointed to a printed image and explained that when all the pieces were assembled properly, they would make a picture. He'd even let her arrange a few of the pieces before she headed back out into the streets to finish selling.

Since then, Smalls always thought of the newsies like puzzle pieces. They all fit together like those little oddly-shaped bits of wood she'd seen at Jacobi's that day. And for Jack, there had been a couple pieces missing, that he'd found in Katherine and Davey.

So yeah, Jack was probably way more worried than he was letting on. Thank God for Katherine, because she was one of the only people he actually truly opened up to. Today was Sunday, and not only that but it was one of the two Sundays a month when Kath met up with them at Jacobi's and treated them all to lunch. Maybe she would have something to say to calm the concern that Smalls was sure wasn't just simmering in Jack, but likely in all of the newsies on some level.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Smalls calling Davey "Mouth" brings me much pleasure, if you couldn't tell. 
> 
> also I think this may be my favorite chapter I wrote, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. :))))


	7. Chapter 7

Jack pulled Katherine aside as soon as he got a chance.

"Smalls mentioned to me this mornin' that Les'd talked to her," he muttered to her in a back corner of the dining room at Jacobi's. "The bed he's sleeping in is right next to hers, ya know. Anyway, she said that he'd told her, I guess when his mama sent him to us 't the beginnin' of the week," here he hesitated, Kath watching his face and listening intently. "Well, I guess to him, at least, Dave seemed pretty bad off."

She frowned, but didn't say anything yet, apparently thinking.

"Not to be dramatic-"

"As if being dramatic is unusual for you," Kath quipped, smirking.

"Oh, ya wound me, madam!" Jack gave her a quick grin and pressed a hand to his chest, grateful to be drawn into a bit of play even if he was a potato sack of anxiety. A moment later, though, he picked up his train of thought: "But I don't like not knowin' if one of my best friends is even..." he trailed off with a vague hand motion. Kath would hopefully know what he meant.

Jack Kelly didn't need many things. He could go without money or a roof over his head, he would in a heartbeat if it meant keeping any of his newsies safe. The few things he did admit to truly needing, beyond food and water, were people. It felt unbelievably selfish to admit, but that was the truth.

He needed Katherine to warm both his arms and his heart and to keep him grounded; he needed Crutchie like he needed air -- he couldn't breathe without him. But he needed Davey to help hold him together, all the pieces of himself that he hardly ever let anyone see. There was something about him that cooled the fiery mishmash of emotions in Jack's heart and made him feel safe.

A part of Jack knew he was probably fretting too much, that even though hundreds of people died from the influenza, hundreds more recovered just fine. But he quite literally catastrophized things for a living, and that jolting feeling in his diaphragm refused to go away.

"So, what do you think?" Katherine's question brought him back to the moment. "Because in my opinion, I think you should go check on them, maybe." She tilted her head as she looked up at him.

"Well, good," he replied. "'Cause I was gonna either way, but 's'always better when my ace backs me." He laughed at the way she tried not to smile and failed.

"Such a rebel," she teased, pulling him back toward the rest of the group to get some food.

"Hey, we wouldn't'a met if it wasn't for some good ol' rebellion!"

* * *

"What's it like being a girl?" Les asked that evening at the lodging house, when they all returned warm and full of good food.

Smalls' mouth twitched, but she fought to keep a neutral look on her face. She heard a snicker from one of the upper bunks and recognized it as Albert. She blinked, then turned to Les.

"A lot of stuff you don't even wanna know," she told him, fighting back the urge to laugh despite hearing Albert and Finch cracking up behind her. "Don't you have a sister?"

Maybe not the best topic, but based on the fact that Les had walked back with Race and Crutchie, and that Jack was nowhere to be seen, at least they'd probably have an update on the kid's family soon. Smalls wasn't sure for whose sake she most hoped everybody was ok -- Les, or Jack. They both were probably the same amount of worried, and Les was nearly as good as Jack at hiding it.

"Yeah," Les crossed his arms. "But I meant a girl _newsie."_

"Ohh..." Smalls nodded sagely. "Well, there's a few of us," she said, "And we possess untold power." She made a dramatic motion with her hands, and Les looked at her skeptically, raising one eyebrow. It made her laugh, and she shrugged.

"Nah, really, it ain't that different than bein' a boy newsie. Only thing is I get the title of bein' the only girl Romeo don't flirt with."

Les was seated on Smalls' bed next to her where she had been braiding together a few scraps of the twine used to tie the newspaper bundles. This was the kid's fifth day at the lodging house and while the underlying concern was still there, he seemed to be in generally good spirits. That said, Smalls was not by any means a babysitter and she had no idea why the kid had seemed to grow attached to her. She liked him just fine, and she'd been around lots of younger newsies in her day, but for all intents and purposes, this was Jack's kid. She didn't actually know him that well.

Soon, Crutchie called him over to play cat's cradle and Smalls watched silently as the twine twisted into all sorts of complicated configurations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yay more Jack and Kath!! they're honestly just the most fun to write together, I need to write some more stuff with Kath soon (and possibly her interacting with some of the other newsies) bc I love her so much and she comes so naturally to me for some reason. 
> 
> I'm kind of trying to write Jack's anxiety the way I personally feel anxiety myself, so I hope it comes across ok. 
> 
> (also Smalls tries very hard to convince herself she doesn't care as much about the others as she actually does. I may also write more with her sometime bc I accidentally ended up developing her a lot in this XD)


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *insert "I wanna see my little boy!" meme here*

It was going to snow later. The heavy clouds in the sky and Crutchie's leg had said so. It wasn't all that important of an observation, except that Jack would get wet if it started snowing before he got back to the lodging house; it was more of a distraction.

Pfft. A distraction. He was going to his sick friend's house to check that he wasn't dead or anything, and he was trying to distract himself from it? It made no sense, but he was doing it anyway, avoiding the way his heart thumped at each corner he turned. He came down the last block and wondered if he might actually get an adrenaline high from this anxiety.

Fire escapes were Jack's favorite bit of city architecture. A guy could get anywhere from anywhere while barely setting foot on the street. He counted windows as he climbed this one, staying to the edge so he could peek in a little bit without anyone seeing him.

When he reached the large window that he knew belonged to the Jacobses' apartment, he was greeted by a look from Mrs. Jacobs, who must've heard his footsteps on the metal of the fire escape. She was sitting on the edge of Sarah's bed and she looked exhausted. Sarah was asleep, but looked simply that -- asleep, not unconscious.

"Hey," Jack whispered, waving his fingers in greeting.

Mrs. Jacobs pressed her lips together. "You shouldn't be here, Jack," she said quietly. "You could get sick."

Jack shrugged with a dismissive smile. "I been sick before, Mrs. Jacobs, I can handle myself." He found himself unable to keep up the casual act, though, as he continued. "I couldn't- well, I had to come check on yas. For Les' sake," he added, knowing that Davey's mom could probably see through him just as well as her older son could, and still giving it a shot anyway.

She smiled tiredly. "I do appreciate it. You can tell Les not to worry too much," she said with a motherly look that told Jack that she had, indeed, seen through his act. "We're all recovering."

"That's good," Jack said, some of the tightness in his ribcage loosening a bit. "Les's been real good, by the way. He gives us all some more reason t' smile. I dunno if the boys're gonna want 'im to leave again once you all's better." He grinned lopsidedly and leaned against the windowframe.

Mrs. Jacobs began to say something, but Jack was distracted by a weak voice from inside the apartment.

"Jack? Is that you?"

The sound of Davey's voice sent some kind of jolt through Jack and he immediately climbed through the window, much to the consternation of Mrs. Jacobs, to whom he shot a mildly apologetic glance. Davey looked an absolute wreck, all tired eyes and messy hair and his face paler than Jack had ever seen anyone's (excepting Albert in the winter), but he managed a weak smile when he saw Jack.

"Yeah, 's me."

"I thought I had a fever again for a minute," Davey said. "What are you doing here?"

"Checkin' on you,"Jack shrugged. "We all's been pretty worried, ya know." He crouched down next to Davey's bed and snickered at the way Dave reached out to try and take his hand, his fingers brushing Jack's forehead instead before Jack caught his hand.

"Hey, don't get your germs on me," Jack teased. "I'd never hear the end of it from your mom. You look awful, by the way."

"Thanks a whole lot."

"Anytime."

Davey puffed out a small laugh of his own, letting his eyes fall shut even as he grinned. "Tell Les I love him, okay?"

Jack squeezed his hand. "Will do. Now uh... how's about I leave ya to get some more rest, 'fore your mom decides to chase me away with a broom?"

"Jacky," Dave mumbled as Jack stood up, making him pause. "Love you."

"Love ya too, Dave."

* * *

"Eeeeeeeee _umph-"_ Followed by a solid thump and a _"hey!"_ was the sound Smalls woke to, and she squinted first out the window, trying to get a read on how early it was and how much sleep she was missing -- quite a lot, if the darkness outside meant anything -- then in the direction of the noise.

It was Specs, who looked to have rolled off his top bunk and half onto the ground, half onto Elmer in the lower bunk. All Smalls could make out in the barely-there light was a tall shape and a somewhat shorter shape who were awkwardly trying to untangle Specs' legs from a blanket. Smalls snorted and rolled over, hoping to get another hour or so of sleep before she had to actually get up and get to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The "except Albert in the winter" line is absolutely me projecting my Irishness onto Al, I get so pale when I'm cold that I lowkey look transparent XD


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and at last we have the end. it's a mildly bittersweet thing to be finished with it, but I love being able to share this with y'all. enjoy! :)

Smalls went with Jack to walk Les home. It had been another few days before Mrs. Jacobs had sent word that she felt safe for Les to come back, but even just Jack's word that Davey and everyone was okay had helped the kid's worry, and that of all the others. Jack had come home that evening looking like he'd had a weight lifted off him, or at least that's how Crutchie had said it. And Crutchie knew Jack better than anybody, so Smalls was inclined to go with whatever he said on the matter.

She had no good reason for wanting to tag along when Jack announced that Les was leaving, she just figured she would. Spontaneity was one of those big words that Race or Davey would trot out when they were feeling especially smart, and it was a good word for Smalls. It meant she didn't have to explain herself to anybody; she could just claim _spontaneity _and that was that.__

__She liked the kid, she really did. And she was glad he was going home. The newsies knew better than anybody to treasure the privilege of being with your family. Most of them didn't have that privilege, not in the way Les did, at least. It'd been a little bit contentious at the beginning, when nobody knew whether or not to like or accept the Jacobs boys -- then, they'd all made snide comments about their having a family when most of the rest of the newsies didn't. It wasn't a joke, really, more the bitterness of kids who'd had most everything but each other torn away from them at a young age._ _

__For most of them, their family was the newsies. And maybe Smalls felt like, by tagging along to take Les home, she was in some silly way protecting his innocence and the luck he had in his family. She didn't know, and she also didn't think it was worth putting too much thought into. When they reached the apartment building, she gave the kid a two-fingered faux salute and watched as he hugged Jack tight before trotting inside._ _

__On a whim as they walked back, she grabbed a handful of mushy snow and threw it at Jack, which was a huge mistake on her part. She was, as her name suggested, small enough for someone Jack's size to actually pick up and dump in a snowpile, and he didn't hesitate to do it. Both of them were much wetter on their return than when they had left._ _

* * *

___"Heyyyyyyy!"_ _ _

__A chorus of shouts went up from the edge of the group gathered at the World, and Jack turned around, his eyebrows raised, as everybody shifted and he could see what had them all excited. His face lit up in a grin when he saw Les and Davey walking toward him._ _

__Dave still looked a bit worse for wear, maybe a bit more tired than normal, but otherwise seemed fine. Jack wrapped his arms around him on instinct, and didn’t fail to notice the way Davey held on for longer than was normal. God knew he didn't mind, and he happily buried his face in his friend's shoulder._ _

__"It's good to have ya back again," he muttered as they pulled apart, and Davey gave him a gentle shove._ _

__"Shut up," he replied, his lips twitching into a teasing smile._ _

__"Hey," Jack shrugged. "I missed my sellin' partner, what can I say?"_ _

__Les spun around from buying his papes and made a scandalized face. "And what am I? Chopped liver?"_ _

__Jack put up his hands in defense. "Hey, I bet some folks _like_ chopped liver!" He shared a smirking glance with Davey on the way out of the distribution yard. "You's still the best seller I got," he told the kid. "But now I ain't in charge of ya." _ _

__Davey half-laughed and shook his head, and they let Les run on ahead a little ways as they walked. If they walked a little closer together than usual, their shoulders bumping periodically, neither of them said anything or minded._ _

__"Hey Dave?"_ _

__"Yeah?" Davey raised a questioning eyebrow._ _

__"I was... uh, I was really worried 'bout ya for a few days there." He shrugged, rolling his shoulders and making a face because he knew he was being awkward, and he hated it. But for some reason he didn’t stop himself._ _

__Davey gave him that _one look,_ the really soft one that Jack kind of hated because it was totally impossible to act tough when someone looked at you like that. "I figured." _ _

__"I's just real glad you're alright, 's'all." He bumped Davey with his shoulder again and looked at the ground as they walked._ _

__"Thanks, Jacky," Dave murmured, then seemed to abruptly shift into mother-hen mode. "Les," he called, "Don't run so far ahead!"_ _

__Jack smiled to himself a lot that day as they sold._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> if anyone has thoughts on this fic please leave a comment bc I love to talk to y'all! thanks for reading! :D


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